A Route to Citizenship in Defense Bill

Legislation Offers Illegal Residents Chance to Become Americans Through Military Service or College; Foes Call It Amnesty

ENLARGE

David Cho, a UCLA marching-band drum major, rehearses on Friday in Los Angeles. An illegal immigrant from South Korea, he came to the U.S. at the age of nine.
David McNew for The Wall Street Journal

By

Miriam Jordan

Updated Sept. 18, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES—David Cho, an honor student and leader of the UCLA marching band, plans to join the U.S. Air Force after he graduates in the spring—if Congress lets him.

Mr. Cho is among the potential beneficiaries of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors bill—informally known as the Dream Act—that would give some illegal immigrants a shot at becoming U.S. citizens.

The bill would grant six years of legal residency to high-school graduates who have lived in the U.S. continuously for five years and arrived by the age of 15. They would become eligible for citizenship if they attend college or serve in the military for two years during the legal residency period.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said this week that he planned to attach the Dream Act to the defense-authorization bill next week.

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To supporters, the Dream Act would encourage young people to join the military and attend college, two laudable goals.

To opponents, the bill is tantamount to an amnesty program for children whose parents broke U.S. immigration laws.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) believes passage of the Dream Act would entice more people to sneak into the U.S. "When you take a policy that says you are going to reward people who have entered our country illegally with a guaranteed pathway to citizenship, and with billions of dollars in financial aid or benefits they would not otherwise be entitled to, what message are we sending?" Sen. Sessions said.

Currently, students like Mr. Cho come of age in the U.S. without the right to legally work, join the military or receive federal loans for education. Most of these children had no say in their families' decision to settle illegally in the U.S. Generally, they have not been targeted for deportation, unless they have criminal records.

"I'm super stoked that it came up," said Mr. Cho, 21 years old, a senior at the University of California, Los Angeles, who came to the U.S. from South Korea when he was nine years old and has never been back.

The first version of the Dream Act was introduced in August 2001 with bipartisan support. But it has languished amid efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul. The legislation was last introduced in October 2007.

Backers of the bill are expected to mount an aggressive campaign in coming days. But any attempt to pass immigration legislation could prove difficult ahead of the elections.

Pentagon officials support the Dream Act. In its strategic plan for fiscal years 2010-2012, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness cited the Dream Act as a "smart" way to attract quality recruits to the all-volunteer force.

But Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a national group that advocates a curb on all immigration, said passage of the Dream Act would divert "scarce educational resources" to illegal immigrants.

In an interview, Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa) accused Sen. Reid of attempting to use a "must-pass" defense bill to ram through an amnesty.

Supporters of the bill, including many with close ties to the military and higher education, see it differently.

"Passage of the Dream Act would be extremely beneficial to the U.S. military and the country as a whole," said Margaret Stock, a retired West Point professor who studies immigrants in the military. She said it made "perfect" sense to attach it to the defense-authorization bill.

Louis Caldera, secretary of the Army under President Bill Clinton, said that as they struggled to meet recruiting goals, "recruiters at stations were telling me it would be extremely valuable for these patriotic people to be allowed to serve our country."

Immigrants have been eligible to enlist in the U.S. military since the Revolutionary War. As of June 2009, foreign-born individuals represented 8% of the 1.4 million military personnel on active duty in the U.S. armed forces.

Many educators say passage of the Dream Act would make college affordable for young illegal immigrants, who are entitled to K-12 schooling under a 1982 Supreme Court ruling.

About 825,000 youngsters in the country illegally would likely qualify for legal status under the bill, according to a recent analysis by the independent Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank.

Three out of four potential Dream Act beneficiaries reside in 10 states, led by California, Texas, Florida, New York and Arizona.

The University of California's 11 undergraduate campuses enroll 181,700 students. Among them are 340 to 630 illegal immigrants, including Mr. Cho, the UCLA senior, according to the UC system.

Mark Yudof, president of the UC system, has been a vocal supporter of the Dream Act. "We are looking forward to the bill moving through the legislative process and passing," said Chris Harrington, a spokesman for the UC system.

Without the Dream Act, Mr. Cho will have no legal job prospects when he graduates, he said.

But during a recent band rehearsal ahead of a football game at the Rose Bowl, Mr. Cho was optimistic about his opportunities in the long term. "My dream is to become a U.S. senator."

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